final preparations are under way for the cherry blossom festival which starts tomorrow. the crowds are already down at the tidal basin enjoying the blossoms even though peak boom doesn't officially begin until tomorrow. >> this year is the 100th anniversary of japan giving the u.s. the gift of the beautiful trees. megan mcgrath has advice on the best way to get around the tidal basin. >> reporter: an explosion of color along the tidal basin. >> they are spectacular. >> i have come down here almost every year for probably the last 40 years and i never get tired of seeing the cherry blossoms. they're spectacular. they're beautiful. >> just can't get tired of it. stunning. seeing the really old trees and then, you know, the new ones and it's just lovely. >> reporter: technically the peak bloom begins tomorrow but visitors say they can't tell the difference. hundreds of thousands of people are expected to come and see the cherry blossoms. it's going to be crowded, so visitors are encouraged to ride

metro or take advantage of the shuttle buses. there are ten stops along haynes point and the jefferson memorial. >> you are going to bring your car, keep in mind ohio drive is one way going north between the inlet bridge and erickson statue. and if crowds aren't your thing come early in the morning. the lighting is beautiful and you practically have the tidal basin to yourself. >> i think they're really beautiful so i'm glad we came this early. >> reporter: with all these visitors comes traffic congesti congestion. we're already seeing it today. drivers are asked to be extra careful and watch out for pedestrians. from the tidal basin, megan mcgrath, news 4. >> you can share your cherry blossom pictures with us. e-mail them to weather@nbc washington.com or use the hash tag did is gram or insta gram and we'll share some of those best on the air and in our

special selection online. what a perfect day to see them, perfect day to stroll along the basin. >> meteorologist doug kammerer joins us with the forecast. hey, tom. >> you worked with tom all afternoon. no worries. right now out there absolutely gorgeous. tom will tell you the same thing. plenty of sunshine earlier. now dealing with mostly cloudy skies but you can still see there is some sunshine and you can see the sun along the monument but cloudiness and shade along the foreground. you can see all of the cherry blossoms absolutely spectacular and the weather could not be better. look at this. 76 degrees out there right now. winds out of the south about 9 miles per hour. i was just looking along the potomac. a lot of boats along the potomac river today. here we are still in the month of march. 81 in petersburg, west virginia. 76 in d.c. 79 in culpepper. 75 in manassas and along the shore along the chesapeake bay. the temperature there around 63 in annapolis, the cool spot today along the water.

there are a few showers especially in through frederick county, maryland, the best chance to see some showers but even a lone shower just the east of leesburg. we are going to see a slight chance for shower activity through the rest of the evening but most of us if not all will stay on the dry side. 67 degrees by 9:00 tonight. 63 by 11:00. waking up tomorrow morning the temperatures in the mid 50s and we've got some more fantastic weather to come. but there's a few flies in the ointment. i'll show you those in my full forecast. >> thanks, doug. france raised its terror alert level today after a series of deadly shootings that may all be linked to one attacker on a motorcycle. today a rabbi, his two young sons, and a school girl were shot and killed at a jewish pool. one of the guns the attackers used has been linked to two deadly shootings that took place last week in the same region. >> reporter: the news that this is the same 45 caliber weapon in

this attack as in two previous shootings is crucial because it raises concern among french officials that they may be dealing with a serial killer. this latest shooting happened around about 8:00 this morning in france. the shooter got off a motorcycle and simply opened fire outside a jewish school. four people have been killed including three children. >> we stand with the victims of this attack and offer our condolences to their families and communities. we join the government of france in condemning this unprovoked and vicious act of violence. >> reporter: eyewitnesses say children were running into the school in terror. it is simply the third of three attacks that we have seen throughout thursday that a shooter opened fire on three members of the french military who were standing at an atm. one question for french investigators is whether or not this is the same shooter and

whether they are racially motivated or whether there is some sort of political motivation. the prosecutor's office says it will investigate terrorist links to monday's killings and the previous killings. president sarkozy is describing it as barberry and savagery and hate cannot win he says. back to you. the soldier accused of killing 16 people in afghanistan is meeting with his attorney for the first time today. staff sergeant robert bales is in solitary confinement at for the leavenworth, kansas. he is awaiting formal charges for the murders of 16 civilians during a night time rampage last sunday. those charges could be filed sometime this week. bales' attorney has discussed a defense centered on post traumatic stress disorder. bales was on his fourth deployment and also dealing with financial difficulties at home. trains on metro's red line are back on time following a

deadly incident on the tracks this morning. a train struck and killed a man just after 10:00 this morning at the white flint station. the investigation caused several hours of delays on the red line as well as nearby route 355 as emergency crews rushed to the scene and a metro spokes person says the man apparently jumped on to the tracks. tonight is the public's last chance to weigh in on phase two of the dulles rail project. metro is holding the final public hearing on the project tonight. that'll take place at the fairfax county government center in fairfax beginning at 7:00. residents can comment about issues relating to the project including funding, construction plans, and others, and the proposed station names as well. tomorrow the public feedback will be presented to the metro board. the wait is over. peyton manning appears to be trading his colts horseshoe for a bucking bronco. espn says he is seeking a

five-year contract worth about $95 million. manning is a fourth time mvp. he missed the entire 2007 season after surgery on his neck. the addition of manning to the broncos could lead denver to trade its popular quarterback tim tebow. apple is rewarding shareholders, paying out dends and beginning a buy back program. they'll pay $2.65 per share beginning july 1st. a $10 billion share buy back program will also start september 30th and will run for three years. apple has more than $97 billion in cash and securities. the dividend program opens up ownership of apple shares to a more diverse range of funds. now to presidential politics where all eyes are on illinois now. it's a big swing state in tomorrow's republican primary is another test for mitt romney and

he needs a big win. here's steve handelsman. >> reporter: illinois looks ideal for mitt romney, a moderate state with lots of delegates, 69, up for grabs. at a diner in springfield the republican front-runner claims he is on a roll. >> she is pancakes are as large as my win in puerto rico last night. the margin was just about as good. >> reporter: romney won more than half the votes yesterday and all 20 of frederico's delegates. at the chicago economic club romney tried to fire up young voters. >> you guys ought to be out working like crazy for me and people like me, conservatives who want to keep the cost of government down and give you a brighter future. thank you. >> reporter: but rick santorum is still running down romney. >> he is uniquely disqualified to go out and make the case against obama care because he developed the blueprint for obama care. >> reporter: party leaders are not applauding. the nasty back and forth. >> we're not going to be successful in replacing an

economic lightweight with another one. >> if i'm a lightweight i agree he is a heavyweight, a big government heavyweight. >> reporter: santorum's delegate count 184 is lightweight compared to romney's 443 but santorum's refusing to quit like ronald reagan in his first campaign. >> he fought. he won 11 states in 1976. i might add just parenthetically that if we happen to win illinois that would be the 11th state i've won in this election. >> reporter: santorum does seem sure to win delegates. so does mitt romney. the illinois primary is proportional, almost guaranteeing the race will go on after tomorrow. i'm steve handelsman, news 4. president obama's re-election campaign has stepped up fund raising efforts. the campaign raised $45 million last month. that's nearly twice the average amount of money raised per month in the last quarter of 2011.

the funds are shared by mr. obama's campaign and the democratic national committee. new research shows an increase in the national high school graduation rates. it was presented at the grad nation summit in northwest today and shows a 3.5% increase from 2001 to 2009. also the number of dropouts facilities or high schools that failed to graduate more than 60% of students fell by more than 450 between 2002 and 2010. today at the summit at&t announced a $250 million commitment over the next five years to address the dropout rate. >> what we need to do in the united states is recognize this is a competitive environment and if we do not have the best skilled work force in the world these resources will go elsewhere so it's imperative that we as corporate america, that we as a country get behind this issue and begin to address this dropout crisis. >> the grad nation campaign has set a goal of a 90% graduation

rate by 2020. wisconsin is the only state that has reached the benchmark though vermont is less than half a percentage point away. news 4 at 4:00 is just getting started. breaking news out of hollywood in the desperate housewives trial. >> beyonce is ready to get back on stage and perform again. >> new details on george clooney's arrest in d.c. last week. the name he gave to the secret service. >> and what's behind oprah canning the

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"access hollywood" test. "access hollywood" test. "access hollywoooooooooooooooooo

>> the boss is back on tour. bruce springsteen and the e street band kicked off their new world tour in atlanta sunday night. the 2012 wrecking ball tour will take the band through the u.s. and europe. they'll be at the verizon center in d.c. on sunday, april 1st. tickets to the show and most of the other dates are sold out. this is the band's first tour since the death of saxaphonist clarence clemmons. the five-piece horn section joins the band for this tour. ♪ killing me softly >> maternity leave is over. it's back to work for beyonce. the grammy singer will perform three concerts in new jersey at atlantic city's rebel resort. dates of may 25th through may 27th, memorial day weekend.

the premiere of the $2.4 billion resort there. tickets go on sale april 6th. beyonce gave birth to her first child in january. she is of course married to rapper jay-z. >> i didn't recognize her with the dark hair. looks great. >> she does. they're back. mtv announced today that snooki and crew will be back for a sixth season of "the jersey shore." according to the cable network all the housemates will return including snooki who recently announced she is pregnant. "jersey shore" has been one of the highest rated shows on tv since it first hit the airwaves in 2009. the box office is jumping. things aren't very rosey for one talk show host. >> and discussion about george clooney's arrest here in washington on friday. here with the details is billy bush with "access hollywood." >> hey, billy. >> hey, ladies. well, nicollette sheridan wanted $6 million for wrongful

termination and the judge has issued a mistrial. so everybody goes home. there is a retrial date set for april 19th. a couple things could happen then. maybe abc, you know, comes to nicollette and settles and says, look, let's not go through this again. let's go our separate ways. maybe nicollette says this isn't worth it and i don't want to do it anymore. i think nicollette is gunning for it but she has had a hard time getting a job since the trial began at abc so she'll probably go and abc has said they will not settle and they look forward to a retrial. looks like we'll go through this again. >> wow. >> all right. let's talk about george clooney. he was arrested of course on friday here in washington and he played a little name game with the police. tell us about that. >> yeah. this morning we had a guy named, this guy on frayed kraemer on "access hollywood live" this morning. i love the idea that kraemer is

protesting with george and they both end up in a paddy wagon going to jail. sounds like seinfeld. they do get into the paddy wagon together and fred kraemer was telling us how george was loosening up the crowd and keeping things warm in there and because they were on government property they were arrested by secret service and not the police. and when they asked for their names clooney spat out brad pitt to try and set up his pal and take a pass. they all went in and shared a cell together for a matter of hours. you've got martin luther king iii and you've got, you know, government reps, a serious group of people in here and they said what they did is used the time wisely. they pulled up a table and chairs and they got around together and they discussed what's the next step in our stance against the sudan government? they used it wisely and there turned out to be i think sometimes it's hard getting a lot of powerful people in a room together. >> yeah. how about that? >> listen, were you surprised to hear that rosie o'donnell's talk show is canceled on the oprah

network? >> no. i think it was, you know, they tried to go back to the old rosie show, back to the rosie funny, warm, softer days of rosie o'donnell but since then so much has happened, you know, especially with "the view" and she has become politically divisive and she's a tough character. so i think what they tried to do going back to that didn't really sell because we know a different rosie. then again you get the time slot at 7:00 p.m. people don't tend to tune into a show like that at that time. the ratings suffered. only five months that it was on the air. i think rosie respects oprah and oprah said, look, i got to get this network going and this right here is not happening. they sank about $10 million into the marketing and launching of that show along with another one so disappointing for everybody involved but not really a surprise to me that it didn't work. wouldn't you know it, donald trump has already fired out a tweet saying she's a failure once again.

i don't think their feud is going to be with oprah. may continue with the donald. >> okay. all right. there's a new number one at the box office and the weekend was jumping. >> unbelievable. 21 jump street. who knew? back to the old tv show did great. 35 million people showed up. channing tatum proves that he can do romance and bromance. "the vow" was still a top ten movie so he strikes again with this one. i was very surprised it would be that successful but it is a very good movie if you haven't seen it. >> all right. what's up tonight, billy? >> well, i don't know if you guys, did you see this kony 2012 founder, this documentary -- jason russell's group invisible children did this video. it has 83 million views on youtube and climbing and a different type of video has gained some traction of him running around ranting naked in the streets of san diego. i think the guy has some mental

illness there. he is on a 51.50 psychiatric hold which they've since released him from but i did an interview right when that thing blew up and gained 20 million views overnight i tracked the guy down, got him on the live show the next day and part of the questioning that i do, we actually did an interview after the live show was done and we kept going and it's there where i asked him, are you ready for your life to be dissected? they're going to 'vette you and your organization. this is the way our culture is right now. you'll be descended upon. can you handle this type of scrutiny? personally and professionally? and his answer there gives maybe a little light into what's going on with this poor guy right now. that's tonight. >> all right. we'll be watching. thank you. thank you guys. coming up on news 4 from hollywood to elections eva longoria was at our station today talking politics. what is the healthiest junk food kids should eat? a story

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to reaching your goals. pnc bank. for the achiever in you. we love the weather we've had and the cherry blossoms love it, too. >> cherry blossoms love it a little too much. coming out a little early this year. absolutely gorgeous. i mean, there are some right in the background.

you can see them back there with the live shot of the white house. a beautiful afternoon. >> gorgeous. >> i want to show you a storm that's coming our way. >> okay. >> you would do that. >> i would. here's the storm coming our way. take a look at this. >> coming our way? that storm is coming our way. it isn't going to bring snow but it is coming our way. i just wanted to let you know this is in flagstaff, arizona where they saw nearly 30 inches of snow just around the flagstaff area. i saw one report of 53 inches of snow over four feet and, yes, that storm will be making its way toward us. however, it will not look anything like that. you almost feel sorry for those people and our weather is just so fantastic. 76 degrees the current temperature out there right now with the dew point of 56 degrees. winds out of the south about 9 miles per hour. it is a spectacular afternoon. take a look at the numbers. 79 right now in culpepper. 76 in fredericksburg and 72 over there toward gaithersburg.

we are looking toward shower activity. it as little storm system right in here. you kind of see the spin in the atmosphere taking off a couple clouds and showers. we'll zoom in just to our north back toward ohio pretty good storminess here. here are the storms we're talking about in through frederick county. just some shower activity once again to the north and east of frederick and dplas cuss and i also saw a little shower earlier right around leesburg. that one is just making its way into montgomery county. you can see it right there. that is a tiny little shower. don't expect anything there. a couple showers this evening. that's about it. once again extremely isolated and then tomorrow afternoon nice and warm. i think this is way over done. i do expect to see maybe a sprinkle or a shower tomorrow but don't expect much. you may want to carry that little purse umbrella just in case but i think most of us should be high and dry on our tuesday and on wednesday. one thing for sure. we'll stay on the warm side. once again average high temperatures into the mid 50s right now and we've been the mid

70s the last couple days. this evening partly cloudy. continued warm. 60 to 68 degrees. tomorrow morning, another great start. watch out for an isolated shower with the little system. 49 to about 56 degrees. still on the mild side. tomorrow afternoon we'll see a beautiful afternoon. partly sunny. still warm. once again isolated showers. 70 to 75 degrees on the light side. here's the next four days showing 75 on wednesday. 79 on thursday. 80 coming up on friday. we will see a better chance of showers i think during the day on thursday but no real big chances of rain through the end of the week. and then that storm from arizona moves our way and we'll talk more about this weekend coming up. >> all right. thanks, doug. we have breaking news this afternoon. chopper 4 is above the scene where two school buses have collided in prince george's county. >> the accident is in the 7600 block of croom road in croom, maryland. there are reports of injuries but we are not sure how severe.

we'll have more information as it comes in. once again we're looking at a live picture. two school buses crash nah each other in croom, maryland this afternoon. still to come on news 4 at 4:00, what is the best junk food that your kids should eat? we'll get the skinny on that. plus, slow drivers are texting while driving in a

welcome back to news 4 at 4:00. i'm barbara harrison in for jim handly. >> i am pat lawson muse. in the news at this hour the terror alert level has just been raised in france. this morning a gunman on a motorcycle shot and killed a rabbi and three children at a jewish school. police say the attack may be linked to two deadly shootings in the same region last week. french soldiers of north caribbean or north african descent were the targets. the cherry blossom festival starts tomorrow the first day of spring. peak bloom begins tomorrow and runs through the 23rd. officials encourage visitors to ride metro or use shuttle bus service. this year is the 100th anniversary of japan giving the u.s. the gift of cherry trees. the centennial celebration runs for five weeks. and a perfect world, all children would happily eat their

apples and celery sticks as snacks. >> but as we all know we don't live in that perfect world and sometimes junk foods went out. nbc's erica edwards sought out the best of the worst if you will snacks to delight both their kids and parents. >> reporter: 2 1/2-year-old calvin is a master fruit smoothie maker. banana, milk -- >> how much milk? >> five. >> five! >> reporter: chocolate protein. >> are you excited about this? >> reporter: it's easy for these parents to see calvin gets healthy snacks at home. >> not that there is a lot of choice. >> reporter: but the choices at the grois store are wide ranging. all that eye candy for kids can make a mom's eyes roll and heads spin. >> with both of us working we try to go for be healthy as possible snacks and sometimes we rely on packaged stuff. >> clinical dietician lisa simpson -- >> petal corn is really good. >> reporter: it is a brand

called popcorn, indiana. no one is suggesting these snacks are as helpful as a handful of carrots but according to her they are better than brownies. >> teaching children you can have treats every once in a while and in moderation will go a long way toward making them healthy adults. >> reporter: also on her list of the best packaged snack foods bare naked trail mix, quaker oatmeal 25% less sugar granola bars and pretty much anything made by koshi. >> a good rule of thumb is no more than three grams of fat for every 100 calories. >> reporter: snacks should max out at 100 to 200 calories per serving. >> there you go. >> reporter: they are dietician and parent approved snacks that actually taste good. erica edwards, nbc news. >> dieticians also suggest looking for three to five grams of fiber and less than eight grams of sugar per serving in snack foods. it's okay for the government to require graphic health warnings on cigarette cartons.

that's what a federal appeals judge in kentucky decided today. tobacco companies filed a lawsuit against the food and drug administration's statute that will force them to put gruesome images of smoking consequences on their products. cigarette makers said it limited their free speech but today's ruling upholds the statute. a federal judge here in washington has blocked the graphic labels but an appeal in that case will be heard next month. desperate housewives star eva longoria is in town and has a brand new job. she was named one of the national cochairs for president obama's re-election campaign. today we asked her about her new role. >> i have a big platform and i really care about the community, specifically the latino community and the women's community. those are two of the areas that i'll be focusing campaigning on. i'll be campaigning on his record. everything that he's done in his first term. and really countering a lot of the misinformation that's out

there about what he's accomplished specifically for latinos and women. >> longoria says she'll be going to swing states to campaign. the actress also was involved in the campaign four years ago. prince william is scheduled to return from military duty in the forecaaulklands this week b his absence his wife kate has been taking the lead. >> today she atenlded the dedication of a new hospice in england. she was set to make her first public speech today as a royal. >> first of all i'd like to say thank you. thank you for not only accepting me as a patron. thank you also for inviting me here today. you have all made me feel so welcome and i feel hugely honored to be here to see this wonderful center. >> the duchess spoke for about

four minutes and drew chuck ls when she said she regretted that prince william could not be there. the hospice is called the tree house. it's for children with life threatening illnesses. what's your pet peeve when you're behind the wheel? bet you have one. a new survey asked americans that question. the survey by "consumer reports" national research center found nearly two-thirds of the drivers questioned are especially bothered by people who text and drive. two-thirds also got annoyed when able bodied drivers parked in disabled people's spaces. over all, women were more annoyed by the driving faux pass then men. nearly 900 people took part in the survey. at amazon the online retailer is offering $10 gift cards for five bucks to encourage customers to shop on its local deals sites amazon's version of groupon and living social. the cards are good anywhere on amazon.com not just the local deal sites. by the way, living social is

partly owned by amazon. last year that site offered $20 gift cards for $10 and sold more than a million of them. there is more to come on news 4 at 4:00. a scary moment at a new york zoo when a gorilla escaped. plus a local contestant [ female announcer ] with xfinity, you can always expect more. like more on demand shows and movies than ever. and more ways to discover them too. plus more speed from america's fastest internet provider. so you can run more devices at the same time. ♪ feel a firework [ female announcer ] and best of all, it keeps getting better. no wonder more people choose xfinity over any other provider. ♪ love can be so mystical

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somebody help me down. one of the 8,000 people passing the torch for the summer olympic games will be 100 years old by the time she gets to carry the flag. diana is set to become the oldest torch bearer leading up to the games and is already training to stay in shape for her big honor. >> it's a great honor. it's wonderful. i do walk with a stick when i'm outside but i can't walk with w it obviously. if i can do that holding the torch it's fantastic. >> yes indeed. the opening ceremony for the 2012 olympic games kicks off july 27th which of course you can watch right here on nbc 4. >> those torches are heavy.

i've done that before. a new app combines all your social media timelines. >> wendy rieger has details. >> you need to huddle with facebook and twitter and that's the name of the new app. huddle. hudld. have you ever had something happen to you, you have something you want to say and want to put it on facebook and twitter at the same time so you load it up and type something and it takes extra steps. you don't have to do that anymore. this allows you to load up 30 different accounts. they sync them together and if you want to you just write, watch me at 5:00. hang on. and you just -- it'll be 6:00 by the time i finish this. on nbc. what are we, all righty. put a little space in there. let me just submit it. they can figure it out.

that went out on my facebook and twitter. there you go. it's called hudld. and you can type and disseminate information like the wind. don't forget to download our own app for free nbc's on iphone. just search nbc washington for your iphone and you can stay up to date on the weather and the news. just go to nbc washington on i-tunes. >> that's pretty convenient. >> actually this is really cool. you don't have to do it on an ipad. you can do it on your phone. >> thank you. >> you're welcome. watch me at 5:00. all right. >> when news 4 at 4:00 continues, d.c. area talent takes over primetime tonight. a look at the local contestants who battle it out on "the voice." voice." >> pl never in my lifetime did i think i could walk 60 miles in 3 days. (woman) the goal is to bring an end to breast cancer. (woman) there's no doubt in my mind that komen's funding helped saved my life. the 3-day is my opportunity

to help save others' lives. (woman) i'll never stop walking, not till we find a cure. it is the most rewarding experience i have ever had in my entire life. (man) register today for the... because everyone deserves a lifetime.

a man and his thoughts. a beautiful afternoon for it. temperatures in the 70s right now. 76 degrees. partly cloudy to mostly cloudy skies across the area. a little system trying to swing on through. winds out of the south about 9 miles per hour. take a look at the temperatures around the metro area. 74 in belmar. look down toward warranton. 81 degrees right now around the warranton area. the cool spot annapolis right along the water. that little water influence there coming in at 63 degrees.

we do have a couple showers. we'll zoom into those to the north of washington for the most part. over toward mount airy along 70 we are going to continue to see a chance of showers swinging on through this way. look back toward martinsburg with a few more isolated showers too. best chance tonight will be north of the d.c. area north of the metro area. overnight temperatures down to only 56 in washington to another nice, mild night. 49 in martinsburg. 50 in culpepper. 56 in fredericksburg. once again chance of showers north of d.c. about it. tomorrow i think everybody has at least a slight chance of a shower but that's all it's going to be. just a slight chance. it is not going to be a rain event at all. you may see a quick shower and then it'll move right on by. temperatures 73 in washington. 73 in frederick. 73 in manassas. around 75 degrees toward fredericksburg so another day with temperatures about 15 to 20 degrees above average. simply amazing. how great our weather has been. it looks like it's going to continue. >> thanks, doug. things are heating up in

primetime tonight with an all new battle episode of "the voice." >> as we have local talent hitting the stage angie goff and big tigger are at the super screen with details. hello, everyone. it is the third week of the battle rounds on "the voice" and tonight we are getting pumped up and are ready. last week had some pretty big moments. let's talk about my favorite hands down. we are talking about as i turn my chair around mr. jamie lono and also jamar rogers. things got really emotional with this one. they sang "i want to know what love is." ♪ i want to know what love is >> it was really, really a great, great battle. not only for jamar. he's from the bronx. i'm from the bronx. and he is fighting hiv and my foundation works with hiv and aids awareness. i really want him to win. just a way that you could still do more as you battle hiv.

>> a true connection there. >> yes. >> you also have this favorite from the battle rounds. >> i do. as goit my chair and turn my chair around. this battle was awesome and i'm not quite sure what's going on with christina aguilera. why she keeps put herg best people against each other so early in the show but jeff and sarah sang and it was awesome. ♪ chain of fools >> if you recall sarah is the one that floored christina in the beginning. >> right. >> i knew kind of all along she was going to go with sarah. this is the girl when she auditioned she got up on stage and she sang with her. talking about tonight's battle, you definitely are going to want to tune in for that because it is going to be very emotional as one of our local contestants will take the stage. >> indeed. my girl erin. >> gaithersburg. she is on team blake and she is

going to be singing pat benetar's "we belong" and we have a little preview. ♪ ♪ >> not all competition. erin actually teamed up with another local duty the seals brothers. >> that's right. they are singing "i love rock 'n roll" and what i love about this is does this scene seem familiar? this is the garage the brothers are still living in at their parents' house out in virginia. the parents are like please win this competition so we can get our garage back. i think it's so wonderful. it's already gaining a lot of views on youtube and i think it's just wonderful to see. you don't get more personality than this. they really rocked out and it showed how the two different styles can mesh well. tonight we're back online, right? >> we are. we're chatting. we want you to check out

tonight's all new episode of "the voice" here on nbc 4. >> nbc washington.com, that is, we will be live chatting, live tweeting, and erin and the shield brothers will be in our chat as well. we hope you'll be able to join us. we'll see you on mine as you watch it on air. >> all right, guys. why would their parents want to kick them out of a garage? they're having a great time. coming up on news 4 at 4:00 dramatic 911 calls are revealed for an unarmed teenager who was shot and killed. plus, new developments from the hospital after comedian gallagher went into a coma. coming up a gay couple calling it quits but their marriage still isn't recognized in maryland so what happens now? shopping for used car? your smart phone can help you comparison shop and you can learn about the vehicle's history with a few simple clicks. coming up on news 4 at 6:00 we'll introduce you to a family

of eagles in virginia who

the buffalo, new york zoo went on lockdown today when one of its gorillas escaped the exhibit. authorities say the animal was recaptured in a lounge at the zoo and was tranquilized before being returned to its cage. no one at the zoo was injured and the facility has since reopened. the buffalo zoo has a number of western low land gorillas in a

main animal building as part of the exhibit. tlooi he mig doctors say comedian gallagher is conscious and is telling jokes again. they brought him out of a medically induced coma yesterday. surgeons replaced two stents after gallagher suffered a heart attack last week in texas. he is still in hospital under observation. still ahead on news 4 [ female announcer ] with xfinity, you can always expect more. like more on demand shows and movies than ever. and more ways to discover them too. plus more speed from america's fastest internet provider. so you can run more devices at the same time. ♪ feel a firework

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the release of 911 calls from the shooting death of a florida teenager by a neighborhood watch volunteer is sparking new outrage. the victim's family is demanding justice but so far no charges have been filed in this case. >> oh, my god. someone's shot. >> reporter: in newly released 911 tapes you hear the panic from a neighbor moments after the shooting last month. 17-year-old trayvon martin was visiting family in this upscale community near orlando. george zimmerman a neighborhood watch volunteer called 911 saying the teenager looked suspicious. >> this guy looks like he is up to no good or on drugs or something. >> reporter: zimmerman told the operator martin was wearing a hoody and approaching him slowly. >> he has his hands in his waist band and he is a black male.

something is wrong with him. he is coming to check me out. >> reporter: the operator told zimmerman to stay put. >> are you following him? >> yes. >> we don't need you to do that. >> reporter: zimmerman ignored the operator and the two were engaged in an altercation. neighbors called 911. >> the guy is yelling help and i'm not going outside. >> reporter: in the background a voice is heard crying for help. >> he's yelling help? >> yes. [ gun shot ] >> there was just a gun shot. >> someone screamed and i heard gunshots. >> there is a black guy down. it looks like he's been shot and he's dead. >> trayvon was dead found lying face down unarmed carrying a bag of skittles and a can of iced tea. zimmerman, who holds a concealed weapons permit was questioned but not arrested. he told police it was him crying for help and that he shot martin in self-defense. in an interview on "today" over the weekend martin's mother said the voice on the call was clearly trayvon. >> that was my baby.

and he was pleading for his life. i just don't understand how that's self-defense. you can clearly hear him yelling for help. >> reporter: the family believes trayvon was targeted because of his race but in a letter to a local paper zimmerman's father said his son would never discriminate. community leaders are outraged, holding rallies demanding an arrest. >> we need answers and we need justice. we're not only looking for an arrest but a conviction. sanford police say they have no evidence to charge zimmerman with a crime and they've turned the case over to the state attorney's office. martin's family is calling on federal authorities to investigate. that's news 4 at 4:00. news 4 at 5:00 starts right now. we begin tonight.

we have breaking news in prince george's county. paramedics transporting more than two dozen students to area hospitals for evaluation after a crash between several buses. investigators say a little over an hour ago three buses rear ended each other on croom road in upper marlboro. the students are from frederick douglas high. authorities say all the injuries appear to be minor but a couple students were taken in on stretchers as a precaution. with that, good evening. i'm wendy rieger. welcome to news 4 at 5:00. >> i'm pat lawson muse. jim is off tonight. our other top story this evening jewish schools in our area stepping up security in response to the terrible shootings in france. news 4's shomari stone has been following developments and has the very latest. >> reporter: there is a heightened state of awareness and jewish camps in montgomery county. this shooting happened this morning in southwestern france. investigators say the man on a motor bike opened fire at a